'When I said I'd die happy to do Kamehameha once, I find myself wondering—was it worth it?'
Akashi couldn't dodge while shooting the Kamehameha wave he had just created at Vatuu, or rather, the body of Unalaq.
The wave penetrated the death beam shot by the oversized Vatuu, hitting his body. The darkness around Vatuu splashed everywhere, flying away from the wave Akashi shot as if it were vaporizing. The wave hit Unalaq's half body, causing it to vaporize. The beam continued moving, hitting a few mountains on the way, changing their shape and making them fly.
Seeing that, Akashi smirked at the death beam.
It was made from a spirit that could rival the Light Spirit.
Moving at the speed of sound at this point was useless. Maybe he would have a higher chance from a distance and if he reacted at the right time.
'It's totally worth it.' Akashi spread his arms open, flying toward the beam.
You may be wondering—if he had some energy left, why not fly away?
Well, there was a reason for damaging himself.
It was a gambit, a gamble.
Korra, on the other hand, opened her eyes wide.
She watched as Vatuu got hit by a beam, and the latter did the same to Akashi.
It wasn't Vatuu she cared for.
But Akashi got hit by an attack capable of changing the geometry of Republic City.
Akashi got hit—swallowed by that.
Something wrapped in smoke fell from that.
Korra rushed forward, creating a tornado to soften the fall of that smoky object.
Akashi, with many burns around his body, fell. Korra rushed to him, holding his body as the tornado guided him toward her. She stretched her arm to the side, grabbing water from a nearby pond. The water quickly wrapped around him, shining green.
"Don't die on me!" she said.
"Luckily… it's just darkness… mere corruption and darkness can't do a thing to my mind," Akashi smiled weakly, looking at the sky.
"You fool! I would have dealt with him! You should have just gone away!" scolded Korra, tears accumulating in her eyes.
Akashi smirked. "Well, it went all well and nothing bad happened in the end."
"What do you mean, the worst came!" Korra cried, noticing how the wounds didn't heal. "What were you thinking?"
She had tasted the pain of him dying once, when she had heard that a shark ate him.
Since she had heard about it that time, the pain was incomparable to seeing him dying slowly. She had that hope, that illusion, since she hadn't seen his body, that he was alive somewhere.
But now, she was seeing him dying after being hit by the Dark Avatar.
Katara had taught her something—if healing didn't work, it meant that the wounds were too severe to be healed.
She was going to lose him in her arms, just like that.
"It's my fault. I should have never trusted my uncle!" she sobbed. "If I didn't open the portals, the Dark Spirit would still be asleep, and you would have lived."
"I guess I bit off more than I could chew," Akashi grumbled, as if he were in a hurry. "Any moment now."
"Don't say that," Korra said. "You're the only one who saw through Unalaq, helped my people, and saved everyone."
"It's not that," Akashi replied, unable to move his body.
There was a reason why he had charged toward Vatuu's beam.
In the normal world—not the Spirit World—Unalaq would have died instantly.
And you know what that means—leveling up.
When leveling up, all of his stats get restored to their peak.
But it seemed that the law of mortality didn't apply here.
There was a reason why spirits threw their enemies into the Mist of Lost Souls instead of killing them here.
It was also why Akashi didn't die instantly here.
But even then, he defeated Vatuu and Unalaq.
'I vaporized them. So, it's a matter of time before their spirits realize defeat,' Akashi sighed as he looked at the darkness that was slowly dispersing.
He closed his eyes, smiled, and laughed.
'So, it was because of the rules, not my iron body, that I got away with lethal wounds,' he sighed. 'Had this been the physical realm, the energy overloaded on my body would've been too much—not pushing me away but turning me into vapor. I guess Unalaq vaporized because the kind of wave I shot at him was too much even in this world.'
Korra wore a sorry expression on her face, seeing him laughing.
At least he seemed to be happy while going away.
"Is there something you want me to do—anything?" she asked, pleading for his last wish.
Akashi nodded. "Though, while being close to death, I realized that I didn't send my biological mother a letter for the New Year… she got me to the police, though." That was Akashi, not Bob. But while facing death, even for a blink, it became obvious to Akashi that he was both—one his previous life, and one his current. The mix happened when he had reawakened his previous life's memories.
"Why?" Korra asked.
"I guess I had many mommies to consider," he said, a broad smile taking over his face.
He froze, looking stunned at the sky.
Korra put her head on his chest and cried.
But strangely enough, his heart was beating.
Truth be told, the reason Akashi froze was because of the ding he heard. The notification that showed up had enough zeros to stun him.
[Defeating the Dark Avatar]
[+1,000,000,000,000 EXP]
[You leveled up to Level 79]
Korra slowly lifted her head.
The wounds on Akashi's body vanished instantly.
"Yeah!" he sat up.
Korra pulled back.
Her tears dried instantly, and she looked at him.
"You…" she looked at him as if she had seen a ghost.
"Yeah, bitch!" Akashi sat up.
Since it was Korra, coming up with any excuse would work.
"Spirits give up their immortal form to enter our world. The opposite seems to be true!" he said.
Well, to be fair, in the current state, both worlds had collided because of the Harmonic Convergence, and so had their laws.
"What about my uncle?" she asked.
"Yeah, his body vaporized—literally," Akashi replied. "If you're worried, take the remaining part out of this world."
Korra nodded.
She didn't know whether to feel sad for losing a family member or happy to have defeated a villain who wanted to destroy the world.
But she decided to be happy that Akashi was alive.
Seeing that he was without a wound, she clenched her fist and punched him on the shoulder. It felt like hitting iron, but she was the Avatar, and that was no problem. She hit him again.
Akashi winced and held his shoulder.
"What was that for?"
"What do you mean, what was that for? You took on the Dark Avatar! Tyrants throughout history didn't think they could take on the Avatar, yet you thought you could take on the Dark Avatar! That was stupid and risky. You're lucky you didn't disappear like my uncle! And do you know how scared I was, thinking I was going to lose you again, you dumb idiot? Just yesterday you said you'd ask for my hand, and today you were trying to get yourself killed while I was controlling the situation!
"Literally, I can't breathe from the mucus I got from crying…"
And so, Korra kept lashing out at Akashi.
The latter just scratched the side of his head.
Well, to be fair, he had taken a gamble, not knowing whether he would survive or not.
True, Korra had a point—she could have taken care of it.
But what about the EXP?
He got thirty levels.
Akashi turned his eyes to Korra, who was still talking.
"Now I get it. You knew that you'd survive in this world, and so you shot that beam. You took a calculated risk, didn't you? I know you. You should have told me! I got into funeral mode!!!"
"What are you looking at me for? Got something to say for yourself?" Korra put her arms on her hips and stared into his eyes, challenging.
"You're looking lovely today," Akashi smiled.
Akashi faked a cough and brushed her untied hair back.
"Let's get back home anyway," she said before hugging him. "I'm happy that you're alive. Though, I don't want to go through this for a third time."
"Before that, talk to your cousins. They lost their father, anyway," Akashi said, turning to Korra's cousins. No matter what their father did or was about to do, he was the one who vaporized them—he didn't feel guilty. But it'd be proper to settle things for now.